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UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE   COLLECTION  OF 
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TWO  LITERARY  SOCIETIES, 


i*'«.*'V**t  i  t****-*  «%*  V*^«.%*'«.^- 


i^  ^!£):d^i^s@ 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THfi 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA : 

IIT  aEI^AUD  HALL : 

OiN    THE    DAY    PRECEDING    THE 

IN  JUNE  1839. 


t\VDER    THE    APPOINTMENT    OF    THE 

By  HON.  BEDFORD  BROWN. 


I 


PUBLISHED    BY    ORDER    OF    SAID    SOCIETY . 


RALEIGH,  N.  C. 

Printed  by  T.  Loring,  at  the  Office  of  the  North  Carolina  Standard. 


1&39, 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    TH£ 

TWO  LITERARY  SOCIETIES, 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA : 

in  G3P.AP.D  HALL: 

ON    THE    DAY   PRECEDING    THE 

IN  JUNE  1§39. 

UNDER    TEE    ArEOINTMENT    OF    THE 

ipi^IjEctic  society. 

By  HON.  BEDFORD  BROWN, 


rUBLISHED    EY    ORDER    OF   PAID    SOCIETT . 


RALEIGH,  N.  C. 

Printed  by  T.  Loriag,  at  tha  Office  of  the  North  Carolina  Standard. 


1839. 


Delivered  iu  Gerard  Hall,  1S39. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Dialectic 

AND  Philanthropic  Societies  : — 

la  compliance  with  the  invitation  with  which  I 
have  been  honored  I  appear  before  your  two  bodies,  on 
this  occasion,  though  not  without  experiencing  that  sin- 
cere and  unaffected  diffidence,  which  a  just  estimate  of 
the  important  and  interesting  duties  of  the  task,  which 
it  has  been  your  pleasure  to  assign  me,  is  so  well  calcula- 
ted to  inspire. 

This  lequest,  rendered  the  more  imposing  from  its 
having  been  the  second  of  the  kind  which  I  have  receiv- 
ed from  the  same  highly  respectable  source,  did  not  leave 
me  at  liberty  to  consult  considerations  of  mere  personal 
convenience,  in  deciding  whether  I  should  accept  it,  as 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  made,  gave  it,  in 
my  estimation,  the  force  of  imperative  duty. 

Each  successive  year,  for  a  long  period  of  time,  has 
brought  to  this  venerable  seat  of  learning,  under  the  sum- 
mons of  one  or  the  other  of  your  bodies,  some  one  to 
render  this  annual  homage  to  the  cause  of  literature — 
some  one  to  offer  at  its  shrine  the  productions  of  cultivated 
taste  and  rich  endowments.  The  expectation  therefore, 
of  making  on  this  occasion,  any  improvement  on  the  ad- 
mirable manner  in  which  this  office  has  heretofore  l^een 


performed,  often  adorned,  as  it  has  been  by  the  powers  of 
high  genius  and  erudition,  would  be  vain  as  the  attempt, 
"To  gild  refined  gold,  to  paint  the  lily" 
"  To  throw  perfume  on  the  violet," 

My  highest  ambition  will,  therefore,  be  gratified  if 
any  thing  that  1  may  say  shall  contribute  to  promote  the 
honor  of  the  great  cause  to  which  this  occasion  is  conse- 
crated, or  aid  in  advancing  the  progress  of  Literature  and 
intellectual  impiovement,  so  intimately  and  inseparably 
connecLed  with  the  welfare  and  best  interest  of  society. 

However  much  I  should  have  been  gratified  if 
your  choice  had  called  some  other  person  to  the  perform- 
ance of  the  task  which  has  devolved  on  me,  on  the  pre- 
sent occasion,  yet  I  cannot  but  express  the  lively  satisfac- 
tion which  I  derive  from  it,  by  its  tendency  to  recall  re- 
collections and  to  revive  associations  of  by-gone  times, 
and  of  scenes  and  events  that  never  fail  to  leave  an  in- 
delible impression  on  the  minds  of  those  who  have  par- 
ticipated in  them.  And  why  is  it,  that  the  memory 
clings  with  such  faithful  tenacity,  and  the  heart  dwells 
with  such  fond  enthusiasm,  on  the  scenes  and  events  of 
a  College  life  ?  Why  is  it,  that  in  looking  back  through 
the  journey  of  life,  the  mind  contemplates  that  period  of 
our  existence,  as  "a green  spot  in  memory's  waste,"  which 
it  reposes  on  with  pleasure  and  delight?  The  noblest 
feelings  of  our  nature  give  the  response.  It  is  because 
the  generous  ardor  of  unsophisticated  youth  then  glows 
with  all  the  warmth  which  the  morning  of  life  inspires. 
It  is  because  imagination,  that  agreeable  enchantress, 
more  vivid  in  early  age,  gilds  the  future  with  her  bright- 
est hues  and  invests  the  path  of  life  with  all  that  is  love- 
ly and  captivating.     And  o^-ain,  it  i';  becau.se  the.se  cher- 


ished  illusions  have  not  been  dispelh^d  by  a  nearer  ;iiid 
more  intimate  view  of  the  motives  raid  feelings  that  or- 
dinarih''  inflnence  the  actions  of  society,  and  a  knowledge 
of  which,  acqnired  by  that  experience  that  more  advanc- 
ed age  brings,  constitutes  what  may  be  termed  the  phi- 
losophy of  life. 

These  are  laws  of  our  nature,  wliich  a  wise  Provi- 
dence has  ordained,  and  far  be  it  from  me  to  apply  to  the 
impulses  which  spring  from  them  the  frigid  rules  of  that 
austere  philosophy,  which  is  ever  ready  to  censure  the 
generous  enthusiasm  of  youth,  even  when  it  "  leans  to 
virtue's  side  ;"  and  to  see  error  in  its  susceptibility  to  the 
finer  sympathies  of  our  nature.  That  youth  should  be 
thus  constituted,  is  alike  honorable  to  our  species,  from 
the  ennobling  traits  which  it  displays,  and  illustrative  of 
that  infinite  wisdom,  whose  goodness  has  in  that  way 
mitigated  the  ills  incident  to  human  life,  by  heightening 
its  capacity  at  that  period  for  enjoyment. 

In  selecting  a  topic  worthy  the  consideration  of  tlie 
enlightened  assembly,  which  has  convened  here  on  this 
occasion,  and  which  now  honors  me  with  its  presence, 
none  occurs  to  my  mind  more  entitled  to  arrest  the  atten- 
tion, and  to  interest  profoundly  the  feelings  of  the  patriot, 
the  philanthropist  and  the  philosopher,  than  the  influence 
which  the  general  spread  of  intelligence,  in  all  its  branch- 
es of  Science  and  Literature,  in  alliance  with  free  institu- 
tions of  Government,  is  exercising  on  the  age  in  which 
we  live,  and  is  likely  to  exert  over  the  future  destinies  of 
the  civilized  world. 

We  live  in  an  age  teeming  with  great  events  and 
prolific  of  the  most  exciting  and  stirring  incidents.  A 
new  era  in  improvement,  social,  moral  and  political,  has 


%.%- 


6 

burst  upon  us.  Tho  human  niind,  for  the  Isst  half  cen- 
tury, as  if  awakened  from  a  long  trance  which  bound 
and  fettered  its  energies  for  centuries,  is  by  investigation 
and  discovery,  every  day  making  new  and  invaluable 
acquisitions  in  all  the  arts  that  are  useful  to  society,  or 
which  contribute  to  its  embellishment.  Ambition  is  no 
longer  seen,  as  in  the  person  of  Alexander,  weeping,  be- 
cause it  luis  no  more  worlds  to  conquer  ;  or  as  in  that  of 
Caesar,  sighing  with  regret  before  the  statue  of  the  Macedo- 
nian Monarch,  because  of  his  having  left  him  so  little  to 
achieve  ni  the  art  of  war.  No  !  Ambition,  that  noble 
infirmity  of  our  nature,  and  which  when  properly  direct- 
ed, is  one  of  its  best  attributes,  seeks  another  and  a  far 
more  beneficial  field  for  its  achievements.  Its  energies 
are  no  longer  directed  to  the  battle-field,  to  erect  trophies 
to  victory ;  but  they  are  directed  to  the  far  more  glorious 
conquests,  which  Science  is  daily  accomplishing  over 
the  material  world,  and  by  the  aid  of  which  it  is  render- 
ed more  and  more  subservient  to  the  comfort,  utility  and 
jrrandeur  of  the  human  race. 

To  what  cause  is  it,  that  we  are  in  a  great  degree, 
to  attribute  the  great  events,  which  so  eminently  charac- 
terize the  present  age,  in  its  onward  and  brilliant  ca- 
reer, in  the  march  of  mind  and  improvement?  Under 
what  auspicious  infiuence  is  it,  that  the  minds  of  men 
freed  from  the  chains  of  error  and  superstition,  which  for 
ages  seemed  to  imprison  them,  are  opening  new  fields  for 
enterprize,  and  extending  still  further  the  boundaries  of 
their  dominion  ?  To  what  are  we  to  ascribe  the  morally 
grand  and  consolatory  spectacle  which  a  state  of  univer- 
sal peace,  now  existing  among  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
earth,  this  day  presents  ?     To  the  introduction  of  free  insti- 


lutions  of  government  among  some,  and  to  thu  exten^Mu 
of  liberal  principles,  more  or  less  among  all  tlie  nations  of 
the  world,  where  the  rights  of  civilization  have  shed 
themselves,  together  with  the  spread  of  the  mild  influence 
of  Christianity,  is  due,  mainly,  this  great  reform  which 
gives  to  the  present  age  so  just  a  pre-eminence  for  the  dif- 
tusion  of  knowledge  throughout  society,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  increased  intelligence,  the  more  universal  en- 
joyment throughout  all  its  gradations  of  the  comforts 
and  refinements  of  modern  times.  Free  government  is 
to  the  moral,  what  the  sun  is  to  the  pliysical  world.  It 
calls  into  action  its  dormant  energies,  quickens  and  ani- 
mates its  faculties  and  assists  in  developing  their  useful- 
ness and  beauty,  as  the  latter,  by  its  genial  and  vivifying 
influence,  causes  nature  to  unfold  its  beauties  for  the  ad- 
miration of  man,  and  to  yield  its  abuijdant  stores  for  his 
gratification  and  subsistence. 

The  free  and  unrestrained  use  of  the  faculties  of  the 
mind,  is  the  great  moral  lever,  in  the  social  state,  which 
in  modern  times,  puts  in  motion  its  energies.  By  remov- 
ing from  man  all  restraints  upon  his  individual  liberty, 
except  such  as  the  good  of  society  requires  shall  be  im- 
posed, it  gives  him  a  more  exalted  elevation,  opens  upon 
his  mind  more  enlarged  views,  impresses  him  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  dignity  and  imparts  to  his  faculties 
that  full  play  and  entire  freedom,  so  essential  to  their  ex- 
pansion. 

That  a  republican  form  of  government  has  a  supe- 
rior tendency  over  any  other,  to  accomplish  these  results 
and  to  call  forth  in  greater  perfection  the  powers  of  the 
mind,  in  science,  in  literature  and  eloquence,  is  a  propo- 
sition that  would  seem  to  be  obvious,  from  the  theorv  and 


■'  >■• 


8 

principles  on  which  it  is  Ibundedj  and  from  their  con^'eni- 
ahty  to  the  cultivation  ot"  each  and  all  of  these  pursuits. 
We  are  not  left,  howevei".  to  arguments  drawn  from  mere 
speculative  reasoning,  to  establish  the  truth  of  this  pro- 
position, but  it  has  been  conspicuously  exemplified  by 
the  distinguished  success  with  which  every  branch  of 
learning  was  cultivated  under  the  ancient  Republics  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  and  also,  by  the  fostering  effects  on 
them,  which  are  rapidly  and  daily  developing  themselves 
at  the  present  time,  under  our  own  admirable  system  of 
government. 

Besides  the  favorable  influence  exerted  on  the  pro- 
gress of  learning,  by  the  more  unrestrained  use  of  the  fa- 
culties which  it  gives,  and  by  the  right  which  every  citi- 
zen enjoys  under  it,  to  participate  in  public  affairs,  both  of 
themselves  so  well  calculated  to  promote  inquiry  and  to 
difiuse  intelligence,  the  greater  security  which  it  extends 
to  the  acquisitions  of  individual  enterprize  and  industry, 
powerfully  tends  to  the  same  beneficial  result. 

That  system  of  Government  which  protects  the  fruits 
of  labor  to  the  greatest  extent,  and  takes  from  it  the  small- 
est amount  of  its  earnings,  contributes  in  effect  the  great- 
est amount  of  intelligence.  By  it  industry  is  stimulated 
and  the  strongest  inducement  is  held  out  to  acquire  and 
accumulate  property,  which  brings  with  it  leisure  to  culti- 
vate and  improve  the  mind.  Under  more  arbitrary  sys- 
tems, w'here  the  rapacious  hand  of  power  wrests  from  la- 
bor the  fruits  of  its  industry,  to  minister  '■'  to  low  ambition 
and  the  pride  of  Kings,"  the  deleterious  effects  may  bo 
traced,  not  alone  in  the  impoverishment  of  the  great  body 
of  their  citizens,  but  in  their  ignorance  and  degradation. 
Compelled  to  toil   incessantly  for  a  bare  subsistence,  nei- 


9 

ther  the  means  nor  ihe  leisure  are  afforded  essential  to 
inental  cultivation. 

It  is  this  that,  in  a  great  degree,  creates  the  marked  dis- 
tinction in  intelligence,  between  the  American  citizen  who 
labors  in  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts, 
and  the  European  operative.  It  is  this,  among  other  caus- 
es, which  is  giving  to  intellectual  improvement  in  this 
country  that  powerful  impulse  which  it  has  received,  and 
which  is  aiding  in  the  spread  of  that  universal  intelligence 
throughout  our  land,  which  is  every  where  so  rapidly 
pervading  it. 

Of  the  peculiar  aptitude  and  tendency  of  a  system 
of  popular  Government  to  foster  invention,  and,  by  the 
aid  of  science,  to  bring  the  most  valuable  discoveries 
into  general  and  successful  operation,  a  survey  of  the  con- 
dition of  our  own  country,  brought  about  by  the  applica- 
tion of  steam,  that  powerful  agent  in  modern  improve^ 
ment,  to  the  purposes  of  travel  and  of  transportation  by 
land  and  water,  exhibits  the  most  astonishing  results. — 
While  to  England  is  due  the  honor  of  having  first  suc- 
cessfully accomplished  that  daring  and  wonderful  enter- 
prize  of  establishing  steam  navigation  across  the  Atlantic, 
to  American  genius  is,  undoubtedly,  due  the  far  greater 
honor  of  having  first  practically  applied  steam  to  the  pur- 
poses of  navigation.  To  this  invention  of  American  ge- 
nius, is  due  the  merit  of  the  mighty  achievments  which  it 
has  since  effected  in  behalf  of  social,  commercial  and  in- 
tellectual improvement,  throughout  the  civilized  world. — 
It  has,  in  effect,  almost  annihilated  space  and  time,  by 
bringing  the  old  and  new  worlds  into  closer  neighborhood, 
and  greatly  promoted  the  social  intercourse  of  nations  by 
more  rapid  eomrntmication.  -  .•,        ;,v 


^  y 


10 

No  country,  it  is  believed,  at  this  time,  employs  so  great 
a  number  of  steam  boats,  in  her  internal  commerce,  as  the 
United  States,  and  it  may  with  confidence  be  assserted 
that  the  entire  extent  and  distance  of  rail  road  now  in  op- 
eration in  all  the  different  States  of  the  Union,  exceeds 
that  of  any  State  or  Kingdom  in  Europe.  In  the  immense 
and  fertile  valley  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tribu- 
taries, more  than  any  where  else,  has  this  powerful  agent, 
by  its  application  to  the  purposes  of  navigation,  wrought 
its  most  wonderful  efiects.  It  is  there  that  it  has  accele- 
rated improvement,  in  all  its  branches,  with  a  degree  of 
rapidity  never  before  witnessed  in  any  other  country. 

When  the  mind  contemplates  the  magnificent  results 
to  which  I  have  made  allusion,  and  which  have  been  ac- 
complished by  States  whose  Federal  Government  num- 
bers but  little  more  than  half  a  century  in  age,  what  a 
proud  triumph  does  it  present  for  the  friends  of  popular 
Government,  in  its  superior  adaptation  to  advance  the  im- 
provement of  the  age !  What  a  noble  spectacle  does  it 
afford,  in  the  efiects  which  it  has  produced,  and  is  likely 
to  produce,  on  the  future  destinies  of  our  country  !  Nor 
are  we  to  estimate  its  beneficial  effects  alone  by  the  phys- 
ical and  moral  improvement  which  it  confers  on  society, 
but,  in  looking  to  its  effects  in  aiding  the  more  wide  and 
rapid  spread  of  intelligence,  and  in  facilitating  intercourse 
throughout  every  portion  of  the  country,  we  cannot  fail 
to  observe  in  them  the  causes  of  greater  stability  and  of 
added  strength  to  the  bonds  of  our  glorious  Union. 

Not  less  instrumental  in  advancing  improvement,  and 
in  its  tendency,  to  aid  in  that  great  revolution  which  is 
now  going  on  in  the  moral  condition  of  the  world,  is  the 
extensive  and  almost  universal  introduction  of  machinery  ; 


11 

and  by  the  substitution  of  which,  so  large  a  portion  of 
manual  labor  is  supersedeil.  In  no  portion  of  the  world, 
has  the  power  of  invention  distinguished  itself  more  by- 
its  numerous  additions  to  the  stock  of  valuable  improve- 
ments, calculated  to  add  to  the  physical  comforts  and 
convenience  of  society,  than  in  the  United  States.  By 
the  introduction  of  newly  invented  mechanical  £igents, 
and  their  application  to  all  the  various  useful  pursuits  of 
life,  a  single  individual  is  often  able  to  accomplish,  what 
it  required  the  labor  of  hundreds  before  to  perform.  The 
effect  has  been,  to  cheapen  production,  to  multiply  greatly 
the  comforts  of  life,  and  vastly  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  that  portion  of  society  engaged  in  occupations  of  labor. 
Many  were  led  to  apprehend  effects  far  from  salutary,  on 
our  system  of  government,  by  the  great  change  wJiich  the 
extensive  introduction  of  machinery  was  likely  to  pro- 
duce in  society,  and  by  its  supposed  tendency,  to  intro- 
duce a  more  luxurious  and  artificial  system  of  habits,  in 
place  of  those  of  greater  simplicity.  So  far  from  having 
the  effect  to  subvert  popular  institutions,  it  is  more  likely 
to  prove  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  their  support,  by  the 
greater  facility  it  furnisiies  to  procure  the  comforts  of  hfe 
in  all  its  walks,  and  the  consequently  increased  leisure  it 
affords,  for  the  cultivation  of  the  mind. 

While  therefore,  one  of  the  admirable  effects  of  our 
Government  is,  to  bring  into  useful  action,  the  discoveries 
of  science ;  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  latter,  is  beau- 
tifully  illustrated,  in  its  tendency  to  sustain  the  system  of 
the  former,  under  which  it  best  flourishes ;  each  thus 
giving  to  the  other  reciprocal  aid  and  support. 

Not  less  beneficial,  is  its  influence  in  promoting  and 
encouraging  the  cause  of  literature.     In  no  other  country 


12 

in  the  world,  are  so  iiiuny  Collegea  and  Academies  to  hB 
found,  for  the  cultivation  and  promotion  of  science  and 
literature,  as  in  ours.  There  is  not  a  State  in  the  Union- 
that  has  not  established  and  endowed  one  or  more  Col- 
leges, and  scarcely  a  village  in  our  wide  extended  coun- 
try that  is  not  experiencing  the  advantages  of  a  system  of 
Academic  education.  Altogether  it  may  be  safely  assert- 
ed that  the  minds  of  a  greater  number  of  youth  are,  at 
this  day,  receiving  the  lights  and  benefits  of  education 
in  this,  than  in  any  other  country.  Can  there  be  a  doubt 
then,  that  the  result  of  this  almost  universal  system  of 
education,  will  be  the  establishment  of  an  elevated  nation- 
al Literature  ?  To  doubt  it  would  be  to  underrate  Ameri- 
can genius,  which  has  already  signalized  itself  in  many 
of  the  departments  of  learning,  and  even  surpassed,  in 
some  of  the  most  valuable  inventions  of  the  present  day, 
that  of  the  older  European  States. 

A  highly  refined  taste  in  literature  is  necessarily 
(even  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances)  slow  in 
its  progress.  It  is  the  fruit  only,  of  long  and  laborious 
cultivation,  and  is  to  be  found  only  in  that  advanced  state 
of  society,  in  which  each  branch  of  learning  has  its  sepa- 
rate and  exclusive  followers.  The  human  mind  is  so 
constituted,  that  one  person  seldom  attains  distinction  in 
more  than  one  profession  or  branch  of  learning.  Hence 
it  is,  that  in  most  of  the  European  States,  eminent  for 
learning,  not  only  is  labor  minutely  divided  in  all  the 
mechanic  arts,  but  each  of  the  learned  professions  and 
pursuits  of  learning,  have  their  exclusive  votaries.  It  is 
from  this  cause,  that  they  have  attained  so  much  excel- 
lence in  each. 

A  material  error,  not  only  in  professional  education. 


but  111  all  the  dcpartintnits  of  leurriiug  in  this  cuiilitiy,  i:^ 
the  attempt  to  blend  too  many  pursuits.  It  is  true,  that 
It  gives  more  of  that  ready  and  general  information,  for 
which  our  citizens  arc  more  tiian  any  other  people  dis 
tinguished,  but  education  is  consequently  less  thorough, 
and  more  superficial. 

The  pervading  taste  for  reading,  and  the  almost  uni- 
versal desire  for  information,  in  every  walk  of  life,  in  our 
country,  aftbrd  the  most  gratifying  evidence  that  litera- 
ture is  rapidly  advancing,  and  at  a  period  not  distant,  will 
attain  that  distinction  which  it  has  in  some  of  the  older 
and  more  wealthy  States  in  Europe. 

Already  abright  constellation  of  genius  is  adorning  and 
illustrating  the  annals  of  our  literature,  and  gives  promise 
of  the  distinction  to  which  it  is  hereafter  destined  to  arrive. 
No  country  presents  richer  and  more  choice  materials  for 
its  cultivation  and  success,  in  all  its  departments,  than 
ours.  To  the  poet  is  presented  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  a  natural  scenery,  unequalled  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world,  to  call  forth  the  aspirations  of  genius.  To  the  pen 
of  the  historian  is  offered  a  field,  abounding  in  character 
and  events,  worthy  the  pen  of  a  Thucydides  or  a  Tacitus. 
What  page  of  Grecian  or  Roman  history  commemmorates 
councils  of  higher  wisdom,  actions  of  more  exalted  patri- 
otism, or  deeds  of  more  heroic  valor,  than  are  to  be  found 
in  the  annals  of  that  greatest  event  of  modern  times,  the 
American  revolution  ?  Where  can  we  find  a  parallel,  in 
ancient  or  modern  times,  to  the  rapid  advance  of  all  the 
arts  of  peace,  and  to  the  extraordinary  degree  of  prosperi- 
ty which  it  had  pleased  Providence  that  the  States  of  this 
confederacy  should  enjoy,  at  this  time,  under  the  auspices 
of  popular  institutions  1-     These  are  all  rich  and  attractive 


p 


ftelds  to  invite  tlio  labors  of  genius,  and  cannot  lail  lo  call 
forth  its  powers,  in  a  manner  corresponding  to  the  exalted 
nature  of  the  themes  which  they  present. 

While  the  progress  of  literature  in  our  own  countr^r, 
and  the  infiuence  which  it  is  every  where  exerting  on  the 
civilization  of  the  present  age,  is  a  subject  of  the  highest 
congratulation,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  much  of  the  fash- 
ionable reading  of  the  present  day,  is  unfavorable  to  the 
formation  of  a  true  and  refined  taste,  in  that  branch  of 
learning.  The  wild  and  romantic  imagination  of  Byron 
—the  oriental  richness  of  Moore — together  with  the  at- 
tractive tales  of  Bulwer,  and  other  kindred  productions, 
have  aided  in  forming  an  epicurean  taste  in  literature,  that 
is  satisfied  with  nothing  that  is  not  savory  and  high- 
seasoned.  That  the  productions  of  each  of  these  authors 
possess,  in  many  respects,  great  merit,  and  are  distinguish- 
ed by  great  talent,  cannot  be  denied ;  but,  as  the  excess- 
ive gratification  of  the  appetite  in  luxurious  food  has  the 
effect  to  enervate  the  body,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude 
that  too  much  indulgence  in  that  description  of  reading, 
is  far  from  adding  either  to  the  vigor  of  the  mind  or  to  the 
strength  of  moral  sentiment. 

Strongly  imbued  with  the  same  faults  as  the  works  of 
many  of  the  distinguished  writers  of  the  present  day  are, 
and  tending,  as  they  do,  to  minister  to  the  same  kind  of 
literary  appetite,  the  effect  has  been  to  occasion,  in  too 
great  a  degree,  the  neglect  of  those  em.inent  classic  En- 
glish writers  in  literature  and  poetry,  who  stand  unrival- 
led, in  modern  times,  for  their  beauty  of  taste  and  purity 
of  style,  for  others  of  more  doubtful  merit,  and  of  more 
questionable  utility.  The  pure  and  classic  writings  of 
Addison,  Goldsmith,   and  others  of  the  same  character, 


15 

however  overlooked  and  displaced,  can  never  be  supersed- 
ed. However  unfashionable  they  may  have  become,  at 
the  present  day,  they  can  never  diminish  in  value.  In- 
culcating lessons  of  the  most  useful  and  consummate  wis- 
dom, and  presenting  a  faithful  picture  of  society  in  all  its 
di  versified  shades  of  character,  they  are  adapted  to  all  ages, 
and  to  all  times,  and  can  never  be  excelled,  as  models  of 
pure  taste  and  style,  by  any  other  compositions  in  the 
English  language. 

Not  less  important  to  the  acquirement  of  a  correct 
scholarship  and  a  just  taste  in  literature,  is  the  study  of 
the  ancient  classic  writers  of  Greece  and  Rome,  notwith- 
standing the  efforts,  which,  in  some  quarters,  have  been 
recently  made  to  disparage  them.  They  have  long  sur- 
vived the  nations  that  produced  then],  and  remain  as 
imperishable  monuments  of  their  taste  and  genius.  They 
come  down  to  us  with  tiie  accumulated  approbation  of 
many  centuries,  and  have  received  tlie  homage  of  every 
enlightened  age.  The  highest  proof  of  their  merits,  is  tlie 
universality  with  which  they  are  read  and  studied  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  Many  authors  have  produced 
works  in  modern  times,  of  distinguished  merit,  in  the  va- 
rious branches  of  literature,  but  few,  however,  have  ob- 
tained the  general  suifrage  of  all  the  enlightened  nations 
in  their  favor,  of  the  present  day,  while  the  classic  writ- 
ers of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome  are  read  by  nations, 
speaking  every  language  in  every  part  of  the  civilized 
world. 

Like  the  perfect  productions  in  tlie  fine  arts  of  the 
ancient  masters,  they  form  models  of  classic  taste  and 
excellence,  that  are  "unimitated  and  inimitable," 

Besides  their  utilitv  in  the   attainment  of  critical 


IG 

scholarship,  they  possess  other  and  great  merit.  To  tlie 
lenrned  professions  they  may  be  said  to  be  almost  indis- 
pensable. To  the  mere  scholar,  they  afford  an  inexhaust- 
ible source  of  pleasure  and  instruction.  And  to  the 
mind  of  the  youthful  student,  in  a  republic,  they  present 
the  finest  models  of  character  alTorded  by  antiquity,  lor 
study  and  imitation.  Lofty  patriotism,  inflexible  justice, 
disinterested  generosity,  the  highest  wisdom  in  war  and 
in  peace,  not  only  come  recommended  to  him  by  every 
grace  of  eloquence  and  of  poetry,  but  illustrated  by  ex- 
amples, that  dignify  and  exalt  human  nature. 

Eloquence  likewise,  has  always  flourished  most, 
under  popular  institutions  of  government.  Liberty  is 
the  element  alone,  which  is  congenial  to  its  growth.  It 
can  never  exist  to  any  extent  in  governn^ents  that  are 
despotic.  It  is  the  olTspring  of  freedom  of  thought  and  of 
high  and  elevated  sentiment.  The  slave  of  a  despotism, 
however  skilled  in  the  arts  of  adulation  which  he  offers 
up  at  the  shrine  of  absolute  power,  can  never  attain  it, 
because  his  native  independence  is  lost  in  the  servility  of 
the  degraded  parasite.  Hence  it  is  that  we  are  to  look  to 
the  ancient  Republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  for  the  high- 
est and  noblest  specimens  of  public  speaking,  that  have 
ever  adorned  the  annals  of  eloquence.  The  City  of  Athens 
was  its  chosen  and  favorite  abode.  There  it  attained  a 
perfection  which  stands  unrivalled  in  all  succeeding  ages. 
The  lively  and  sprightly  minds  of  her  citizens,  the  high 
culture  and  civilization  prevailing  among  them,  and  tlie 
admirable  rhetorical  schools  in  which  the  art  of  eloquence 
was  taught,  all  contributed  to  the  formation  of  that  excel- 
lence for  which  she  is  so  celebrated.  But  to  her  free  Go- 
vernment, more  tlian  to  nnv  other  cause,  is  to  be  traced 


17 

her  extraordinary  success.  Her  citizens,  accustomed  t^ 
take  part  in  all  great  public  deliberations,  became  not 
only  well  versed  in  affairs  of  State,  but  universally  pos- 
sessed of  a  fine  taste  in  eloquence.  To  such  a  degree, 
had  it  been  cultivated,  that  her  orators  were  cautious  of 
letting  fall,  before  an  Athenian  Assembly,  any  expression 
m  the  least  calculated  to  offend  against  so  refined  a  taste. 
There  would  have  been  no  more  powerful  incentive  to 
Its  stud}^,  than  the  glorious  rewards  which  were  held  out 
to  those  who  attained  to  distinguished  excellence  in  it. — 
It  reigned  with  almost  absolute  sway  in  her  popular  as- 
semblies, and  received  the  highest  honors  and  distinction 
which  she  could  confer. 

It  was  the  noble  spirit  of  emulation  excited  by  her 
institutions  and  the  love  of  liberty  which  they  infused, 
that  called  forth,  in  so  high  a  degree,  those  wonderful 
powers  in  her  orators,  that  have  ever  since  been  the  themes 
of  admiration  and  deligrht. 

>,.  Political  liberty  is  the  strong  and  animating  princi- 
ple of  eloquence,  but  when  danger  impends  over  that 
liberty,  and  it  is  threatened  with  destruction,  it  is  then 
that  eloquence  receives  its  truest  inspiration,  and  rises  to 
its  highest  grandeur.  It  is  then  that  it  appears  in  all  the 
beauty  and  force  of  moral  sublimity.  On  no  page  of 
history,  is  eloquence  exhibited  more  triumphant  and 
patriotism  more  exalted  than  in  the  celebrated  orations  of 
Demosthenes,  rousing  his  countrymen  to  measures  of  de- 
fence against  the  designs  meditated  by  Philip  against 
their  liberties.  In  more  modern  times,  it  was  the  same 
ennobling  principle  that  called  forth  the  resistless  and  in- 
trepid eloquence  of  Hampden  in  defence  of  English  lib- 
erty.    And  more  recently,  in  our  country,  it  was  the  same 

3. 
#  -  ■' 


18 

holy  entTiusiasm  in  behalf  ol  liberty  and  the  same  invin- 
cible hatred  of  oppression  that  fired  the  genius  and  hal- 
lowed the  eloquence  of  a  Samuel  Adams  and  a  Patrick 
Henry. 

The  genial  clime  of  Greece  is  unchanged,  and  is  the 
same  that  it  was  when  she  gave  to  the  world  so  many 
illustrious  examples  of  valor,  wisdom  and  eloquence. — 
Nature,  in  that  beautiful  and  classic  land,  continues  to  dis- 
pense her  bounties  with  the  same  liberal  and  prodigal 
hand  as  formerly,  but  man  has  degenerated  beneath  the 
withering  influence  of  despotism.  The  fervor  of  patri- 
otism is  extinct  with  her  liberties,  and  the  fire  of  genius 
no  longer  kindles  in  her  popular  assemblies  the  love  of 
noble  actions  and  of  glorious  achievements. 

While  it  was  the  fate  of  the  great  States  of  antiqui- 
ty, that  were  so  renowned  for  their  science  and  literature 
and  eloquence,  to  have  become  extinct,  and  with  them  the 
light  of  civilization  for  centuries,  it  cannot  be  otherwise 
than  a  subject  of  the  most  pleasing  reflection  to  the  phi- 
losopher and  the  philanthropist,  that  the  great  improve- 
ments in  every  branch  of  learning,  and  the  highest  state 
of  civilization  which  so  much  distinguish  the  present 
age,  are  comparatively  secure  against  the  recurrence  of 
£0  great  a  calamity.  The  invention  of  the  art  of  print- 
ing, in  modern  times,  by  means  of  which,  Europe  was 
redeemed  from  barbarism,  and  learning  was  revived  after 
having  almost  entirely  disappeared  for  many  centuries, 
affords  to  the  enlightened  nations  of  the  world  the  almost 
certain  means  of  perpetuating,  to  the  remotest  ages,  the 
blessings  of  learning  and  civilization.  Revolutions  in 
States  and  Kingdoms  may  happen,  dynasties  may  over- 
throw, and  nations  may  be  conquered,  but  literature  and 


10 

sciencCj  and  with  them  civilization,  are  destined  tosarvive 
through  all  time  to  come.  The  great  inventions  made 
by  the  aid  of  science  in  modern  times,  the  high  per- 
fection to  which  the  arts  have  attained,  can  never  be  lost, 
by  a  return  of  barbarism  and  ignorance,  but  will  be  hand- 
ed down  to  all  future  generations.  The  art  of  printing  -^ 
is  the  inextinguishable  light  that  will  preserve  and  per- 
petuate them. 

That  there  will  be  no  retrograde  in  society,  and  that 
it  is  destined  to  perform  this  high  oflice,  so  consolatory  to 
the  hopes  of  man,  and  so  gratifying  to  the  pride  of  the 
friends  of  learning,  we  have  abundant  evidence  to  in- 
duce the  belief  in  the  striking  fact  that  improvement  of 
every  kind  has  been  rapidly  advancing  from  the  date  of 
its  invention  to  the  present  time.  The  great  facility  it 
affords  of  multiplying  the  number  of  books  and  their  al- 
most universal  circulation  throughout  society,  more  es- 
pecially in  this  country  from  the  cheap  rate  at  which  they 
can  be  acquired,  has  given  an  impulse  to  the  spread  of 
intelligence,  unprecedented  in  any  former  age. 

Learning,  no  longer  confined  to  a  favored  class,  as 
in  the  days  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  who  used  it  to 
enslave  the  rest  of  mankind  and  to  promote  their  own 
schemes  of  aggrandizement  and  ambition,  is  penetrating 
every  part  of  the  land.  Its  rays  are  scattered  as  the  light 
of  heaven,  falling  alike  on  the  humble  inhabitant  of  the 
cottage  and  the  wealthy  occupant  of  the  palace.  Even 
under  the  governments  of  Europe,  most  remarkable  for 
their  absolute  and  despotic  authority  over  their  subjects, 
learning  through  the  medium  of  the  press,  is  asserting 
its  prerogative,  and  a  more  enlightened  public  opinion  is 
already  beginning  to  be  felt.     It  is  teaching  ambition  to 


20 

moderate  its  pretensions,  power  to  lessen  its  authority,  and 
is  enforcing  a  greater  respect  among  those  who  govern, 
for  the  rights  of  the  governed.  This  is  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  progress  of  a  more  diffused  intelli- 
gence, the  very  nature  of  which  is  to  make  war  upon 
antiquated  abuses,  and  to  introduce  systems  more  con- 
formable to  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

It  is  under  the  influence  of  this  more  enlightened 
public  opinion  that  abuses  in  the  government  of  Eng- 
land, which  have  been  tolerated  for  centuries,  are  now 
crumbling  and  tottering  to  their  fall.  It  is  under  the  op- 
eration of  the  same  cause,  that  Royal  authority  has  been 
greatly  circumscribed  in  France,  religious  toleration  es- 
tablished, and  her  hereditary  peerage  abolished.  To  lit- 
erature and  science,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
press,  belong  the  honor  of  these  achievements  in  favor  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  over  institutions  incompatible 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Belbre  the  lights  of  civiliza- 
tion and  more  universal  intelligence,  the  errors  and  abus- 
es of  former  times  are  rapidly  disappearing,  and  the  day 
has  passed  by  when  physical  force  governed  the  world, 
having  yielded  to  that  moral  power  which  now,  to  a  great 
extent,  controls  and  directs  its  movements. 

It  is  your  fortune,  gentlemen,  to  enter  on  tlie  theatre 
of  active  life  in  the  midst  of  this  noble  career  in  the 
progress  of  improvement  and  of  the  ascendency  of  mind, 
which  so  pre-eminently  mark  the  present  epoch,  and 
which  I  have  so  imperfectly  attempted  to  describe.  A 
portion  of  you  have  reached  that  interesting  period  in 
the  life  of  the  student,  which  separates  him  forever  from 
associations  which  are  endeared  to  him  by  the  most  agree- 
able recollections,  and  from  instructors  under  whof.c  as 


siduous  care  mid  salutary  counsels,  the  mind  has  bsen 
improv^ed  and  the  principles  of  morality  have  been 
strengthened.  In  another  day,  a  portion  of  you  will 
have  bid  a  final  and  last  adieu  to  the  tranquil  and  more 
sequestered  walks  of  collegiate  life,  to  enter  on  those  of  a 
more  exciting  and  eventful  character  ;  you  quit  them  with 
mingled  sensations  of  regret  and  gratification  ;  of  regret 
that  you  are  so  soon  to  be  separated  from  associations 
which  you  so  much  value,  and  of  gratification  at  the 
prospect  which  opens  before  you,  in  the  new  scenes  in 
which  you  are  about  to  act  a  part.  What  is  more  inter- 
esting to  the  parents  and  friends  of  youth,  than  this  peri- 
od of  their  lives,  and  the  new  relation  to  society  which 
it  brings  ?-  What  more  interesting  to  youth  themselves, 
than  the  reflections  which  the  occasion  cannot  fail  to  call 
forth  in  their  own  minds?  Buoyant  with  hope  and 
filled  with  anticipation,  your  minds  look  forward  to  the 
journey  of  life  which  lays  before  you,  like  the  adventu- 
rous mariner  who  is  eager  to  embark  on  the  voyage 
which  he  is  about  to  imdertake.  Impelled  by  a  generous 
emulation,  you  are  prepared  to  test  the  strength  and  effi- 
ciency of  that  intellectual  armour,  in  the  various  pursuits 
of  life,  which  you  have  acquired  through  a  course  of 
years,  by  diligent  toil  and  study.  No  longer  relying  on 
that  auspicious  guidance,  which  preceptors  afforded, 
whilst  conducted  onward  in  life,  by  their  tutelary  coun- 
sels, the  steps  which  closes  the  collegiate  course  of  the 
student  places  him  in  the  new  and  more  elevated  arena 
of  manhood,  and  irrevocably  commits  him  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  all  the  duties  and  responsibilities  which  society 
exacts  from  him  in  that  position.  The  moment  he  leaves 
the  quiet  and  flowery  walks  of  collegiate  education,  te 


\i  *, 


participalG  in  the  liigher  and  graver  duties  of  life,  that 
moment  he  is  thrown  upon  his  own  energies,  and  com- 
pelled to  look  to  his  own  individual  efforts  to  sustain 
him  in  the  part  which  he  is  destined  to  act  in  the  event- 
ful drama  of  life. 

If  the  roseate  hues  of  youthful  imagination  some- 
times gild  the  vista  of  the  future,  with  every  prospect 
that  is  brilliant  and  every  pleasure  that  is  fascinating,  the 
voice  of  experience,  less  flattering,  but  more  philosophic 
and  unerring,  admonishes  us  that  they  are  often  delusive 
and  that  the  path  of  life  is  more  or  less  environed  with 
difficulty,  peril  and  uncertainty.  Hence  the  necessity 
that  those  who  are  about  to  embark  on  the  sometimes 
calm,  but  often  tempestuous  ocean  of  human  life,  should 
endeavor  to  prepare  themselves  for  its  various  emergen- 
cies, by  invigorating  the  mental  faculties,  by  confirming 
moral  principles  and  by  strengthening  and  fortifying  re- 
solution. More  than  ever  requisite,  is  it,  to  go  forth 
shielded  by  this  moral  panoply  at  the  present  period, 
when  the  high  state  of  mental  cultivation  which  belongs 
to  the  age  brings  into  the  field  of  life,  in  all  its  depart- 
ments, strong  antagonists  for  every  prize  and  skilful  com- 
petitors for  every  distinction.  Impressed,  as  your  minds 
no  doubt  have  been,  with  the  maxims  of  experience  and 
the  precepts  of  wisdom,  in  regard  to  your  future  action 
by  the  able  and  learned  preceptors,  to  whom  was  com- 
mitted the  superintendance  of  your  education,  yet  1  trust 
it  will  not  be  deemed  irrelevant,  on  the  present  occasion, 
to  suggest  a  few  hints  and  principles  directed  to  the  same 
end,  and  intended  to  advance  the  same  object. 

The  first  duty,  and  by  far  transcendmg  in  importance 
every  other  which  an  individual  owes  it  to  himself  to  per- 


form,  before  entering  on  the  career  of  active  life,  is  ttiat 
of  the  formation  of  character,  or  the  adoption  of  certain 
principles  of  action  and  of  conduct  for  his  future  govern- 
ment. Tliat  early  principles  adopted,  and  early  habits 
formed,  more  or  less  influence  the  future  course  of  every 
individual  throughout  life,  and  make  either  his  prosperity 
or  his  adversity,  is  a  moral  truth  which  every  day's  ex- 
perience and  observation  confirm.  Mankind  are  but  too 
apt  to  arraign  Providence,  on  account  of  evils  that  are 
the  result  of  their  own  folly  and  indiscretion.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  every  one  is  in  some 
degree  the  maker  of  his  own  good  or  bad  fortune,  and 
that  every  one  may  trace  his  happiness  or  his  misery,  his 
success  or  his  failure  in  life,  his  respectability  or  the  want 
of  it,  to  the  habits  formed  by  him  in  early  life.  How  impor- 
tant then  is  it,  not  only  to  his  own  happiness,  but  to  his  suc- 
cess, that  a  young  man  just  about  to  enter  on  the  thresh- 
old of  life  should  adopt  rules  for  the  government  of  his 
conduct  founded  on  principles  of  virtue  and  morality. — 
How  often  have  we  seen  talents  the  most  exalted,  acquire- 
ments that  would  have  adorned  any  station  in  society,  the 
victims  of  some  vice  early  contracted  or  of  some  habit 
which  if  it  had  been  at  first  resisted  might  have  been 
overcome  and  subdued. 

The  intimate  and  insepai^able  connexion  between 
virtue  and  happiness  is  not  less  true  in  principle  than  it 
is  of  daily  exemplification  in  practice.  The  indulgence 
of  bad  passions  or  a  departure  from  the  path  of  moral  rec- 
titude almost  invariably  brings  its  own  punishment,  while 
on  the  other  hand  an  adherence  to  virtuous  and  moral 
principles  almost  as  infallibly  rewards  those  who  follow 
their  dictates.     This  moral  law  of  our  nature  is  not  less 


24 

indlcativ^e  of  the  wisdom  of  Providence  than  founded  on 
principles  of  justice.  By  it,  our  interest,  our  duty  and 
our  happiness  are  made  to  harmonize.  By  it,  vice  is  not 
only  punished  by  its  own  actions,  but  it  is  made  the  inter- 
est of  every  individual  in  society  to  pursue  the  paths  ol 
virtue  and  morality,  because  his  happiness  is  more  effec- 
tually promoted  by  it.  Nor  is  this  remark  more  applica- 
ble to  the  higher  grades  of  offence  against  morality,  than 
the  smaller  moral  obliquities  which  infest  society.  Who 
is  there  that  has  not  repeatedly  observed  instances  in 
which  cunning  and  duplicity,  after  pursuing  all  their  devi- 
ous paths  for  a  time  apparently  with  success,  have  ultimate- 
ly been  frustrated  and  caught  in  their  own  toils?  Who, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  not  witnessed  virtue  and  integ- 
rity triumphant  over  all  difficulties  and  ultimately  reward- 
ed for  their  purity  of  intention  and  singleness  of  purpose. 
It  is  true,  that  there  are  occasional  exceptions  to  these 
remarks,  and  that  calamity  and  misfortune  sometimes  visit 
the  most  prudent  and  exemplary ;  but  as  general  rules, 
their  truth  will  be  found  to  be  justified  both  by  observa- 
tion and  experience. 

t-  An  elevated  sense  of  honor,  a  love  of  probity  and  a 
strict  adherence  to  integrity  in  every  walk  of  life,  consti- 
tute the  only  sure  foundation  of  private  virtue  as  they  do 
the  beauty  and  ornament  of  individual  character  and 
reputation.  They  not  only  bring  with  them  all  the  kin- 
dred virtues  in  beautiful  association,  but  they  bring  with 
them  that  sense  of  conscious  rectitude  which  affords  to 
the  mind  its  greatest  enjoyment  in  prosperity  and  its  high- 
est solace  in  adversity.  It  was  said  by  a  wise  man  of  an- 
tiquity, that  the  best  way  to  keep  good  actions  in  memory 
was  to  refresh  them  with  new  ones.     This  maxim  incul- 


25 

cates  with  much  beauty,  and  at  the  same  time  force,  tlie 
principle  that  it  is  not  by  merely  abstaining  from  doing 
that  which  is  wrong  and  immoral  in  itself,  that  good  prin- 
ciples and  habits  are  confirmed  and  perfected,  but  that  the 
active  exercise  of  the  virtues,  by  good  and  beneficial  ac- 
tions, is  necessary  to  keep  alive  and  preserve  them. 

The  youth  who  has  terminated  his  course  at  College, 
and  received  the  rewards  and  honors  which  his  industry 
has  gained  for  him,  should  never  forget  that  the  education 
which  he  has  receiv^ed  is  but  the  solid  foundation  on  which 
to  erect,  afterwards,  the  superstructure  of  a  still  more  en- 
larored  knowled2:e  and  information.  The  education  which 
he  has  received,  while  there,  places  in  his  hands,  as  it  were, 
the  keys  which  command  the  richest  treasures  of  science 
and  literature.  The  study  of  Philosophy  and  Science 
lays  open  to  him  the  beauties  and  mysteries  of  nature. — 
"  History,  rich  with  the  spoils  of  time,"  informs  him  of  the 
causes  by  which  nations  and  empires  have  risen,  flourish- 
ed and  decayed ;  and  the  study  of  the  ancient  classics, 
render  him  familiar  with  all  that  is  beautiful  and  instruct- 
ive, in  ancient  literature.  These,  with  other  branches  of 
leariiino-  in  which  he  is  instructed,  constitute  that  course 
of  preparatory  discipline  which  fits  the  youthful  mind  to 
enter  on  other  pursuits,  and  to  perform  its  part  on  the  more 
elevated  theatre  of  active  life.  It  is  important,  then,  at  an 
early  period,  that  he  should  select  the  profession  or  pur- 
suit which  he  intends  to  follow,  lest  tlie  mind,  by  not  hav- 
ing a  definite  and  fixed  object  to  engfage  it,  may  contract 
habits  of  indolence  and  indecision,  which,  when  once  form- 
ed, it  becomes  extremely  difficult  to  deprive  of  the  ascen- 
dancy  which  they  have  gained. 

In  the  so1.-ction  of  a  profesF^ion  the  mind  of  ench  in- 
4. 


36 

dividual  possesses  a  particular  aptitude,  which  fits  it  bet- 
ter for  some  one  of  them  than  for  others,  and  which  indi- 
cates the  choice  proper  to  be  made.  The  advice,  there- 
fore, that  the  oracle  gave  to  Cicero,  to  follow  nature,  is 
the  wisest  in  making  choice  of  a  profession.  Whatever 
profession  you  may  decide  to  enter  on,  in  whatever  pur- 
suit you  may  engage,  remember  the  important  truth  that 
perseverance  is  all-essential  to  the  attainment  of  excellence. 
Each  individual  in  society  may  be  said  to  be,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  Industry,  probi- 
ty and  discretion,  are  qualities  which  most  generally  com- 
mand success  in  every  pursuit,  professional  or  otherwise. 
Even  with  moderate  abilities,  the  individual  possessing 
them  oiten  arrives  at  distinction  in  the  pursuit  which  he 
has  chosen,  while  those  of  an  opposite  character  almost  as 
certainly  produce  disaster,  failure  and  obscurity,  to  those 
more  richly  endowed.  It  is  true  that  there  are  some  in- 
stances of  rare  and  extraordinary  genius,  in  which  emi- 
nence has  been  reached  with  comparatively  little  labor, 
but  if  we  consult  the  histories  of  those  who  have  become 
greatly  distinguished  for  literary  or  professional  merit,  we 
shall  discover  that,  in  almost  every  instance,  success  has 
been  alone  achieved  by  unremitting  labor  and  application. 
We  very  often,  in  the  sphere  of  our  observation,  see  indi- 
viduals whose  minds  are  richly  endowed,  relying  too  much 
on  their  natural  capacities,  and  trusting  to  their  superior- 
ity to  carry  them  forward  without  industry  and  proper  ap- 
plication to  study.  This  is  afatal  error,  and  almost  in  every 
instance  proves  disastrous  to  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of 
those  who  indulge  in  it.  There  are  no  minds,  however 
gifted,  and  no  talents,  however  brilliant,  that  are  exempt 
from  the  necesity  of  industry  in  order  to  attain  to  emi- 


%7 

nence  and  distinction.  Excellence  in  an^/  of  the  depart- 
ments of  learning,  is  a  prize  which  is  to  be  gained  only 
by  toil  and  diligence.  Those  who  worship  at  the  shrnic 
of  the  goddess  of  fame,  can  win  her  smiles  and  fix  her  la-- 
vors,  only  by  diligence  and  perseverance.  Those  who  do 
not  bring  to  it  these  offerings  must  not  expect  to  receive 
either,  or  that  their  names  are  to  be  inscribed  among  thoso 
of  her  successful  votaries. 

Nor  is  industry  beneficial,  alone,  as  a  means  of  ac- 
complishing success  in  the  various  pursuits  of  learning. 
It  eminently  contributes  to  individual  happmess  and  con- 
tentment. By  giving  to  the  mind  occupation  it  renders  it 
more  vigorous  and  cheerful,  and  prevents  it  from  falling 
into  that  state  of  indolence  and  languor  so  adverse  to  its 
improvement,  and  so  injurious  to  happiness.  It  is  a  well 
established  principle,  in  regard  to  the  mind,  that  it  cannot 
be  stationary.  It  must  either  advance  or  retrograde.  If 
it  be  permitted  to  remain  inactive  its  energies  become 
weakened,  its  desire  for  information  diminished,  and  even 
that  which  it  had  before  acquired,  will,  imperceptibly,  fade 
away  and  escape  from  its  hold.  Like  the  muscular  sys- 
tem, which  requires  uniform  exercise  to  develope  its  pow- 
ers and  to  give  it  beauty,  health  and  strength,  the  faculties 
of  the  mind  constantly  require  the  renovating  influence  of 
study  to  unfold  its  energies,  and  to  preserve  its  healthful 
and  efficient  action. 

The  cultivation  of  eloquence,  to  which  I  have  alrea- 
dy alluded,  as  influenced  by  popular  institutions  of  gov- 
ernment, has  ever  been  considered  among  the  highest  and 
noblest  pursuits  that  can  engage  the  faculties  of  the  mind^ 
In  no  country  is  it  so  instrumental  in  achieving  public 
distinction,  as  in  this.     In  professional  life  it  is  the  ready 


28 

and  certain  meaas  of  acquiring  celebrity,  and,  m  popular 
assemblies  and  in  legislative  bodies,  often  exercises  the 
greatest  influence.  The  wide  field  which  is,  therefore, 
open  under  our  free  institutions  for  its  exercise,  and  the 
almost  certain  honors  that  are  awarded  to  it,  present  the 
strongest  incentives  and  hold  out  the  highest  inducements 
to  its  successful  culture.  It  is  not  enough  that  it  should 
be  studied  as  a  mere  art,  by  which  to  arrive  at  skill  and 
ingenuity  in  public  speaking ;  but  with  it  should  be  asso- 
ciated those  high  and  ennobling  virtues  of  the  soul  which 
impart  to  it  its  highest  attributes,  and  without  which  it 
never  can  possess  that  genuine  sincerity  and  fervor  which, 
allied  to  good  sense,  are  so  essential  to  the  beauty  and  force 
of  eloquence.  Honesty  of  purpose,  disinterestedness  of  in- 
tention, and  strict  integrity  of  character,  lend  to  it  a  resist- 
less charm  and  power,  while  sinister  objects  and  sordid 
principles  deprive  even  the  highest  order  of  talents  of 
weisfht,  and  leave  them  without  influence. 

An  eminent  writer,  of  our  own  country,  has  very  pro- 
perly remarked  that  "amplification  is  the  vice  of  modern 
oratory."  That  it  constitutes  one  of  the  offences  against 
good  taste,  as  well  as  good  judgment,  in  much  of  the  pub- 
lic speaking  of  the  present  day,  is  very  generally  conceded. 

Prolixity  is  often  deficient  in  force  and  power  of 
thought,  and  verbiage  often  sacrifices  more  solid  sense  to 
a  mere  idle  eflTort  at  ornament  and  display.  In  no  respect 
are  the  finished  orations  of  the  ancient  orators  of  Greece 
more  deserving  to  be  admired  than  for  their  studied  con- 
ciseness of  style.  Phocion  on  being  asked,  in  an  assem- 
bly of  the  people  of  Athens  before  whom  he  was  about  to 
speak  on  some  important  occasion,  why  he  appeared  ab- 
sent, replied  that  he  was  considering  if  it  were  not  possi- 


29 

ble  to  retrench  some  part  of  the  discourse  he  was  about  to 
deUver.  A  maxim,  somewhat  contrary  to  the  saying  of 
this  eminent  orator  and  wise  statesman,  seems  often  to 
prevail,  at  the  present  time,  and  the  effort  is  rather  to  ex- 
tend  and  expand,  instead  of  retrenching.  The  effect  of 
this  is  certainly  to  impair  the  force  of  eloquence,  as  too 
diffuse  a  style  is  inconsistent  with  that  beauty,  simplicity 
and  energy,  so  essential  to  its  periection.  For  condensa- 
tion and  consciseness  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  a  dis- 
tinguished statesman  of  our  own  country,  afford  models 
which  are  worthy  to  be  studied  and  imitated.  Analyzing 
with  great  precision  and  ability  the  subject  on  which  he 
speaks,  and  presenting  all  the  strong  points  in  his  argu- 
ment with  great  force  and  clearness,  he  never  says  more 
than  is  required  to  elucidate  it — and  yet.  before  he  finish- 
es, never  fails  to  exhibit  it  in  the  strongest  and  most  lu- 
minous point  of  view  of  which  it  is  susceptible. 

The  faculty  of  understanding  the  argument  of  a  sub- 
ject, and  yet  preserving  clearness  and  method,  is,  undoubt- 
edly, one  of  the  first  talents  in  public  speaking,  and  de- 
serves to  be  recommended  to  the  especial  attention  of 
those  who  aspire  to  excel  in  it. 

The  study  of  the  institutions  of  your  country,  forms 
by  far  the  most  important  branch  of  knowledge  which 
will  hereafter  claim  your  attention,  and  which  it  is  more 
especially  the  duty  of  every  American  citizen  to  acquire. 
It  is  not  only  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  principles  and  structure  of  the  Gov- 
ernment under  which  he  lives,  but  more  particularly  is  it 
the  duty  of  those  whose  talents  and  educations  may  en- 
courage them  to  aspire  to  places  of  high  public  trust  and 
distmction,  to  investigate  profoundly  its  nature  and  chfti- 


30 

acter.  To  the  hands  of  the  generation  now  about  coming 
into  active  Hfe,  will  be  committed,  by  that  which  is  pass- 
ing away,,  the  liigh  duty  of  defending,  preserving  and 
transmitting,  unimpaired,  to  their  successors  the  great  and 
inappreciable  blessings  which  it  lias  pleased  Heaven  that 
our  country  should  enjoy.  On  yourselves,  in  common 
with  others,  will  devolve  this  sacred  trust. 

Eminently  favored  by  a  bountiful  Providence  with  a 
country  abounding  in  every  thing  necessary  to  the  com- 
fort, subsistence  and  enjoyment  of  man,  and  formed,  as  it 
is,  on  a  scale  of  beauty,  utility  and  sublimity,  no  where 
surpassed,  yet  we  are  still  more  highly  favored  by  a  sys- 
tem of  Government  which,  for  the  wisdom  of  its  structure, 
the  perfect  order  and  symmetry  of  all  its  parts,  and  the 
great  results  that  have  distinguished  its  progress,  has  no 
parallel  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  Reposing  on  the 
broad  and  solid  foundation  of  public  virtue  and  intelli- 
gence, and  relying  implicitly  on  their  efficiency  and  com- 
petency for  success,  a  federal  system  of  Government  has 
been  erected,  which,  so  far  as  its  hinctions  are  concerned, 
dispenses  freedom  and  happiness  over  an  almost  bound- 
less extent  of  territory,  and  over  near  seventeen  millions 
of  people.  Moving  beautifully  and  harmoniously  in  con- 
cert with  twenty-six  State  sovereignties,  it  attends  to  ob- 
jects of  general  concern,  while  they  constitute  the  deposi- 
tories of  those  invaluable  reserved  rights  and  domestic  in- 
terests, which  it  is  their  peculiar  province  to  guard  and 
protect.  It  is  this  system  of  Federal  and  State  Govern- 
ments which  forms  the  beauty,  as  it  does  the  strength,  of 
our  form  of  Government.  The  great  secret  of  its  success 
is  to  keep  each  from  transcending  its  proper  bounds,  and 
to  keep  each  within  its  own  appropriate  sphere.     When 


%•: 


31 

either  departs  from  its  track  and  invades  the  powers  o( 
the  others,  coUisioii  is  at  once  produced,  and  danger  to  the 
system  ensues.  Hence  the  importance  of  preserving  to 
each  that  share  of  authority  with  which  they  have  been 
invested  by  the  people  and  the  States ;  and  hence  the  im- 
portance that  their  principles  should  be  examined  and 
profoundly  investigated,  in  order  to  comprehend  with  ac- 
curacy the  nature  and  extent  of  the  powers  respectively 
assigned  to  them. 

Dating  its  establishment,  as  the  P^ederal  Government 
does,  from  a  comparatively  recent  period,  and  coming  in- 
to existence,  as  it  did,  in  the  full  light  of  intelligence,  its 
history  is  not  enveloped  in  the  obscurity  and  uncertainly 
which  greater  antiquity  throws  around  those  Governments 
which  are  of  more  ancient  origin.  History,  with  a  rare 
and  accurate  fidelity,  records  the  circumstances  in  which 
the  plan  for  its  formation  originated  :  the  necessity  and 
causes  which  led  to  its  adoption  :  and  the  irresistible  ar- 
guments by  which  they  were  enforced.  Talents  of  the 
highest  order  devoted  their  energies,  at  that  day,  to  its  ex- 
planation and  vindication  from  the  objections  which  were 
alleged  against  it,  and  by  that  series  of  essays,  written  for 
that  purpose,  and  since  published  together,  the  eminent 
men  who  contributed  them  have  established,  by  that  act 
alone,  if  they  had  done  nothing  else,  the  most  solid  and 
enduring  monument  of  their  greatness  and  patriotism. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  lights  which  have 
been  shed  on  it  from  these  and  other  sources,  and  which 
may  be  said  to  eradiate  its  history,  at  every  step  of  its 
progress,  yet  there  has  been,  and  there  continues  to  exist, 
to  this  day,  a  marked  diversity  of  opinion  among  individ- 
uals, eminent  alike  for  integrity  of  purpose  and  for  talents. 


:  32 

ns  to  the  extent  of  many  of  its  powers.  Fortunately  for 
the  cause  of  trutli,  for  the  true  reading  of  the  Constitution, 
and  for  those  who  are  about  to  commence  their  research- 
es on  this  interesting  subject,  a  work  will  soon  see  the 
light  which  must,  to  a  great  extent,  clear  up  what  was  be- 
fore doubtful :  remove  what  was  before  considered  uncer- 
tain :  and  reveal,  more  distinctly,  the  true  principles  and 
character  of  our  Government.  The  debates  which  took 
place  in  the  convention  which  framed  it,  will  be  publish- 
ed in  the  course  of  the  present  year,  as  taken  down  by 
Mr.  Madison.  Among  all  of  the  illustrious  men  who  par- 
ticipated in  that  event,  none  enjoyed  more  ample  opportu- 
nities, and  none  was  better  fitted  by  eminent  talents  and 
unsullied  purity  of  character  than  himself,  for  the  delicate 
and  important  task  which  he  undertook.  Coming  before 
the  world,  as  it  does,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  half  a 
century  from  the  period  in  which  the  events  transpired, 
which  attended  the  formation  of  the  Government,  and 
after  the  passions  and  prejudices  have  ceased  to  exist  that 
sprung  up  amidst  that  gigantic  conflict  of  intellect,  which 
that  great  occasion  called  forth,  it  comes  before  us,  from 
that  circumstance,  with  still  higher  claims  to  our  respect 
and  reverence. 

Not  less  important  to  the  attainment  of  a  correct  and 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  our  Federal  form  of  Govern- 
ment, are  the  works  and  writinofs  of  Mr.  Jefferson.— 
No  man  who  has  ever  lived  understood  more  perfectly  its 
operation  and  tendencies,  and  none  has  ever  sketched 
them  with  a  more  masterly  and  powerful  hand.  One  of 
the  first  scholars  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  un- 
questionably entitled  to  rank  among  the  highest  for  geni- 
us, he  imited  in  his  writings  a  felicity  of  style  with  a  pow- 


33 

cr  oi'  thought,  wliich  will  be  read  alike  with  the  greatest 
profit,  by  the  scholar  as  well  as  those  who  are  in  pursuit 
of  a  true  kuowledofe  of  our  form  of  Government..  While 
the  lives  of  these  illustrious  champions  of  civil  liberty  pre- 
seat  a  spectacle  of  moral  beauty,  rarely  equalled,  in^ny 
ac^f ,  by  the  close  and  cordial  friendship  wiiicli  united  them 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  their  writings  will  ever  con- 
tinue to  form  the  truest  and  ablest  expositions  of  that  Gov- 
ernment, to  the  lustre  and  renown  of  which  their  long  and 
faithful  services  so  much  contributed. 

To  these  must  the  student  resort,  who  wishes  to  fa- 
miliarize himself  with  the  nature  and  character  of  our  in- 
stitutions, and  which,  while  they  tend  to  give  him  more 
just  and  accurate  notions  of  them,  cannot  fail  to  impress 
him  with  a  still  his/her  reverence  for  them  and  their  great 
superiority  over  all  other  systems  of  Government.  ..To 
these,  and  to  the  writings  of  that  venerated  sage  and, pa- 
triot Doctor  Franklin,  must  we  trust  to  preserve  the  minds 
oi  our  countrymen  from  the  influence  of  the  fal§e  doc- 
trines and  sophisms,  inculcated  by  English  writers  on 
Government,  and  to  maintain  that  elevated  standard  of 
American  feeling  which  is  so  essential  to  national  charac- 
ter, and  to  the  preservation  of  our  happy  form  af  Govern- 
ment. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  study  of  our  institu- 
tions, is  that  of  the  lives  and  histories  of  the  eminent  men 
by  whose  wisdom  and  patriotism  they  were  established. 
The  annals  of  the  world  afford  no  instances  of  more  de- 
voted love  of  country,  of  more  wisdom  in  council,  and  of 
more  indomitable  courage  in  the  field,  than  are  to  bq  found 
in  the  lives  of  the  great  men  who  contributed  !to  erect  thfe 
noble  fabric  of  our  liberties.     Thev  form  models  of  char- 


3i 

acter  that  can  never  be  contemplated,  by  a  citizen  of  this 
country,  but  witli  admiration  and  enthusiasm.  In  study- 
ing them,  the  youthful  patriot  has  before  him  all  the  high 
quahties  of  our  nature,  which  tend  to  stimulate  his  exer- 
tions and  to  fire  his  ambition  and  love  of  country.  Oc- 
cupying by  far  the  most  exalted  eminence  in  history,  and 
rising  above  all  others  in  the  moral  grandeur  and  sublim- 
ity of  his  character,  stands  the  name  of  General  "Washing- 
ton. Eulogy  can  never  exhaust  the  praises  due  to  him, 
and  history  can  never  become  weary  in  recording  his  great 
and  signal  services  to  his  country  and  to  mankind.  How 
incomparably  superior  does  his  character  appear,  in  all  its 
parts  and  beautiful  proportions,  when  contrasted  with  the 
greatest  men  of  ancient  or  modern  times  !  History  gives 
to  Cincinnatus  high  civic  virtues,  to  Aristides  the  quality 
of  justice,  to  Cato  that  of  great  firmness,  and  to  Fabius  Max- 
inius  consummate  prudence  and  courage  in  war — but  the 
honor  and  glory  of  their  being  united  in  the  person  of  a 
single  individual,  was  reserved  for  exemplification  in  the 
character  of  General  Washington. 

If  it  be  asked  by  foreign  nations  where  are  the  monu- 
ments which  a  grateful  country  have  raised  to  perpetuate 
his  fame  and  illustrious  services,  America  may  proudly 
point  them  to  a  continent  freed  from  foreign  dominion :  to 
republican  institutions,  successfully  established :  to  the  tri- 
umph of  the  arts  of  peace  throughout  all  her  borders :  and 
to  the  unexampled  happiness  of  her  citizens,  as  the  most 
enduring  memorials  to  preserve  through  all  timiC  the  great 
services  of  himself  and  his  compatriots  of  the  revolution. 

In  having  accomplished  the  political  separation  of 
these  States  from  Great  Britain,  and  in  having  successful- 
ly set  the  *»xamplc  of  a  free  Governnent.  founded  en  the 


36 

broadest  principle  ot  popular  right,  the  sages  of  America 
tegislated  for  all  mankind  and  for  all  future  ages.  The 
example  of  a  great  nation  governing  themselves,  with  a 
moderation  and  wisdom  never  before  equalled,  and  the  ra- 
pid development  of  individual  and  national  prosperity, 
never  before  known  under  any  other  system,  has  put  in 
motion  a  moral  force  to  war  against  antiquated  abuses, 
which  nothing  can  resist,  and  which  will  go  on  conquer- 
ing and  to  conquer. 

In  looking  forward,  through  the  future,  what  grati- 
fying emotions  swell  the  bosom  of  every  patriot,  when  ho 
contemplates  the  great  and  magnificent  prospects  which 
it  opens  upon  the  mind !  With  a  territory  of  almost 
boundless  extent,  comprehending  the  greatest  fertility  of 
soil  and  variety  of  climate,  and  containing  the  richest  and 
most  valuable  mineral  productions,  with  twenty-six  State 
Governments  to  guard  and  protect  the  peculiar  rights  and 
interests  of  their  citizens,  and  with  a  Federal  Government 
charged  with  superintending  those  of  a  more  general  char- 
acter, who  does  not  see  in  the  continued  prosperity  of  the 
s^'stem,  the  development  of  a  national  power  and  great- 
ness, such  as  the  world  has  never  before  witnessed  ? — 
Who  is  there  that  does  not  feel  higher  pride  and  more 
elevated  patriotism,  as  a  citizen  of  this  Republic,  when  he 
reflects  that  by  the  time  the  present  century  closes,  the 
population  of  this  country  will  probably  number  seventy 
or  eighty  millions,  with  a  corresponding  increase  of  wealth, 
and  with  that  high  perfection  in  all  the  arts  of  civilized 
life,  which  the  untrammelled  energies  of  a  free  people  are 
so  likely  to  achieve?  Who  does  not  cherish,  when  he 
looks  to  this  future  so  bright  with  promise,  a  still  more 
lively  and  intense  solicitude.- for  the  success  and  stability 


36 

d  our  glorious  confederacy,  without  which  these  brilUant 
results  can  never  be  accomplished? 

Remember  then,  gentlemen,  that  the  practice  of  all 
the  high  virtues  which  give  lustre  to  national  character, 
are  indispensable  to  our  prosperity  and  success  as  a  na- 
tion. Justice,  wisdom  and  moderation,  combined  with 
true  courage,  while  they  adorn  and  dignify  private  life, 
so  they  add  greatness  and  true  grandeur  to  national  char- 
acter. These  are  the  traits  which  have,  heretofore,  con- 
spicuously distinguished  our  country  in  her  career,  and 
"that  make  her  loved  at  home  and  revered  abroad.''  It 
is  to  the  practice  of  these  principles  that  we  are  indebted 
for  what  we  are  ;  and  it  is  to  their  continued  observance 
that  we  must  expect  whatever  of  prosperity,  greatness  and 
renown,  that  we  may  hereafter  acquire.  History  is  filled 
with  examples  to  admonish  us  of  the  danger  of  departing 
from  them,  and  of  the  fatal  consequences  attending  an  un- 
chastened  ambition  ;  and  from  them  we  cannot  fail  to 
draw  the  most  beneficial  and  profitable  morals.  It  is  to 
the  inordinate  passion  for  conquest  and  the  love  of  aggran^ 
dizement,  without  regard  to  the  means  by  which  they 
were  to  be  efiected,  that  we  may  trace,  mainly,  the  causes 
that  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  mighty  and  magnificent 
empire  of  Rome,  and  which  brought  her  proud  Eagles, 
that  had  been  borne  in  triumph  through  every  clime,  in 
subjection  to  savage  and  barbarous  foes.  It  was  the  same 
spirit  of  ambition  and  conquest,  in  modern  times,  that  con- 
ducted Napoleon  to  Moscow,  leading,  as  it  did,  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  most  colossal  power  that  the  world  ever 
saw,  and- which  finally,  on  the  field  of  Waterl<X),  enabled 
inferiority  of  talent  and  skill  in  command  to  snatch  from 
the  brow  of  that  most  extraordinary  rnilitary  commandi?r 


37 

that  ever  lived,  in  the  tide  of  time,  those  hiurels  of  victory 
which  his  valor  and  skill  deserved  to  have  won. 

True  military  renown,  and  that  which  sets  otY  and 
exalts  national  character,  is  not  obtained  by  foreign  con- 
quests and  by  subjugating-  toreign  countries,  but  it  has 
been  in  defence  of  the  soil  and  liberties  of  a  nation,  when 
threatened  by  an  ambitious  and  invading  foe,  that  its 
brighest  and  most  glorious  honors  have  been  achieved. — 
It  is  when  the  energies  of  a  nation  are  thus  directed,  that 
ambition  becomes  virtue  and  war  an  honorable  pursuit. 
What  occasion  in  human  aftairs  presents  scenes  more  ab- 
horrent to  civilization  and  more  revolting  to  humanity 
than  the  plundered  cities,  devastfited  countries  and  atro- 
cious cruelties  \vhich  follow  in  the  train  of  successful 
military  conquest?  Standing  in  exalted  contrast  with  it, 
what  occasion  aftbrds  a  spectacle  more  deserving  admira- 
tion than  that  presented  by  a  brave  and  gallant  people 
struggling,  with  invincible  fortitude,  to  maintain  their 
liberties  against  an  ambitious  and  powerful  foe?  To  the 
first,  impartial  history  never  fails  to  award  that  just  sen- 
tence of  condemnation  which  awaits  an  ill  directed  and 
criminal  ambition  ;  while  to  the  latter,  she  consecrates 
her  fairest  page  to  record  their  deeds  and  to  give  to  them 
•imperishable  lustre  and  renown. 

Recommended  to  us  as  these  principles  are  by  the 
•lessons  of  history,  in  every  age  by  the  advice  of  the  most 
eminent  patriots  who  have  ever  lived  in  this  country,  and 
liy  the  dictates  of  the  soundest  wisdom,  yet  there  is  an- 
other which  I  cannot  omit  to  bring  to  your  notice  on  this 
occasion,  and  which  is  still  more  indispensable  to  the  con- 
tinuancB  of  the  unexampled  blessings  which  we  are  per- 
mitted to  €njoy  as  a  nation. 


38 

Let  nie  then.  Gentlemen,  inculcate  it  on  you  as  one 
of  the  hij^hest  duties  of  tl;e  citizen  and  one  of  the  first 
duties  of  the  patriot  to  love  and  venerate  the  Union  of 
the  States.  It  has  heconie  too  common  to  indulge  in  lan- 
guage calculated  to  depreciate  its  advantages,  and  to  les- 
sen that  just  reverence  for  it  Miiich  its  great  and  signal 
benefits  ought  to  inspire.  Resting  as  it  does,  on  public 
attachment  as  its  only  sure  and  solid  foundation,  that 
which  goes  to  lessen  respect  and  affection  for  it  tends  di- 
rectly to  its  dissolution  and  overthrow.  There  is  no  such 
incompatibility  of  condition  or  diversity  of  interest  be- 
tween the  groat  sections  of  the  Union  as  would,  for  amo^ 
ment,  justify  the  contemplation  of  a  measure  fraught 
with  such  irreparable  mischief  and  calamity.  By  leav- 
ing to  the  State  Governments  their  own  peculiar  objects  of 
local  and  domestic  concern,  and  by  confining  the  action 
of  the  Federal  Government  to  those  of  a  more  general 
eharacter,  the  interests  of  all  admirably  agree  and  can  be 
made  to  move  on  in  perpetual  harmony. 

That  sound  and  enlightened  public  opinion  in  every 
section  of  the  Union  will  continue  to  take  that  direction, 
we  have  the  best  pledges  for  the  future  in  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism  of  the  past.  The  clouds  which  have  occasion- 
ally lowered  over  our  country  have  as  uniformly  been 
dispelled  before  the  force  of  patriotism  and  the  rays  of 
public  intelligence.  We  are  committed,  then,  to  the  sup- 
port and  preservation  of  the  Union  by  every  considera- 
tion which  can  address  itself  to  our  interests,  to  our  pride 
and  to  our  love  of  country.  We  are  committed  to  it  by 
the  invaluable  blessings  which  it  has  conferred  ;  by  the 
recollections  of  past  glory,  achieved  in  the  revolution, 
which  led  to' its  establishment ;  by  the  happiness  and  in- 


30 

tereats  of"  seventeen  millions  of"  people,  spread  over  ihe 
surface  of  our  country,  and  by  the  hopes  of  the  liberal 
portion  of  the  whole  civilized  world.  Carry,  then,  Geji 
tlemen,  with  you,  no  matter  in  what  pursuit  you  may  en - 
orage  and  no  matter  in  what  sphere  you  are  destined  to 
move  ;  whether  in  that  of  public  or  private  life,  a  sacred 
regard  and  reverence  for  the  Union  of  our  o-joiious  con- 
federacy ;  value  it  as  the  palladium  of  our  liberties,  and 
remember  that  in  its  fate  is  involved  the  greatest  happi- 
ness of  man,  the  noblest  hopes  of  civilization,  and  thft 
brightest  prospects  of  moral  and  intellectual  improve- 
ment. 


